Resumen de Research: Trial investigates live food for broilers
RESEARCHERS in the Netherlands are investigating the impact of using live insects as a source of protein in the diet of broiler chickens. The aim is to see whether chicks fed in this way grow healthily and at a sufficient rate compared to chicks fed on a traditional diet and whether their natural behaviour improves as a result of the addition of the live insects. The researchers hope that, if successful, the trial could be an important step towards further sustainability within the industry.
The trial is being conducted by ForFarmers, an animal feed and farm supplies company, and the department of entomology at Wageningen University, on an experimental farm run by ForFarmers in Nijkerk in the Netherlands. A total of 1000 chicks are being fed in four different groups, with one group receiving a traditional diet and the other three receiving 5 per cent, 10 per cent or 15 per cent black soldier fly larvae. The researchers say that the high protein content of these larvae replaces up to 75 per cent of a protein such as soya....
